Introduction
Training sessions are directed at improving a particular aspect of operations in an organization. Barnes Jewish Hospital needs changes to respond to the evolving environment of healthcare in the US, and to enhance the efficiency of work to adapt to the Affordable Healthcare Act requirements. It is critical to ensure that the medical staff of the hospital is involved in the alterations implementation, as their support is the essential aspect of these upgrades. This paper aims to offer strategies to engage the medical personnel of Barnes Jewish Hospital in the process of training and carrying out the policy adjustments. Additionally, a training session plan and outline are attached with the recommended materials.
Engaging the Group
It is crucial to ensure that the selected role group supports the implementation of the plan, as their desire to be involved will directly influence the outcomes of the training session. The medical staff should participate in the educational activities to improve communication and collaboration within Barnes Jewish Hospital. According to Dannapfel, Poksinska, and Thomas (2014), the primary challenge of increasing the potential of a healthcare organization is bettering the entire system instead of focusing on a single department. Thus, the focus will be on personnel as a whole, not on a single unit.
According to Simons, Benders, Marneffe, Pijls-Johannesma, and Vandijck (2015), “workshop could serve as a simple instrument to improve decision making and enhance the successful implementation of change programs” (p. 64). Therefore, this form of training will be utilized to ensure effective outcomes.
Strategies for Engagement
Setting a clear goal for the training will help create a shared vision for the personnel, thus ensuring their engagement in the policy changes. Moreover, the aim will correspond to the beliefs of the group; therefore, they will support the improvements and will be prepared to practice the new guidelines. In the case of Barnes Jewish Hospital, the objective behind the proposal is not solely focused on the benchmark evaluation scores. The metrics are utilized to understand what needs to be adjusted in the operations to ensure that the hospital provides better services to its patients. Because the primary objective of work for nurses and doctors is to improve the state of health of a patient, the proposed plan should be received well.
Patient-centered care can be utilized to create a common goal, as it focuses on the needs of a person. The approach aims to enhance health outcomes for those admitted to the establishment through understanding their needs and concerns (Fix at al., 2018). Thus, it aligns the work objective of the medical personnel with the aim of this training session. Moreover, the policy change is created using evidence-based research, which should ensure its effectiveness. The proposed plan requires the direct involvement of the participants; thus without them, the policy will not be adequately implemented.
The approach of lean thinking can help ensure the support of the group. The purpose of the lean improvement program is to address the challenges connected to healthcare expectations and other related issues (Dannapfel, Poksinska, & Thomas, 2014). The primary objective of the approach is to create a unified vision for the services, test the strategy, train the people involved, and implement the practice. The method had been successfully trialed on organizations and had proved to be effective. Moreover, lean thinking strategy can be further utilized in Barnes Jewish to address the issues of “growing elderly populations, rising medical expenses, decreasing insurance coverage and decreasing management support) (Hwang, Hwang, & Hong, 2014, p. 729).
These issues are becoming more evident with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The reform in the law requires hospitals to use their resources more thoughtfully. The approach will ensure that Barnes Jewish can respond to challenges and offer the best services to the patients, which should be an objective for the personnel.
Evaluation Metrics
To measure the success of the strategy implementation additional indicators should be set. Although the change is directed at improving the annual benchmark score, it is critical to evaluate whether the training session has been successfully carried out. In case it was unsuccessful, alterations should be made to the plan to meet the objective of the proposal. Thus, feedback from the staff members after the training session is required to gain an understanding of whether they have benefited from the event.
The staff can evaluate the training session on a scale of 1 to 10 to explain whether the gained knowledge has helped them enhance their skills. Additionally, the hospital should identify whether the patients are satisfied with the communication that is delivered to them, which can be done utilizing a similar scale. Testing the ratio of the infection will help evaluate whether the offered collaboration strategy was effective in reducing the rates.
Training Activities and Materials
The primary objective of the training activity is to teach the teams within the hospital how to communicate more efficiently with each other. Additionally, the staff should be more compassionate and employ more listening skills when talking to patients. The approach is the beginning stage of implementing the patient-oriented care in Barnes Jewish Hospital (by referring to the research of Fix et al., 2018). To ensure that the strategy is effectively taught, additional materials will be required (presentation, journal articles that explore communication strategies (such as Nguyen et al. (2018), and a handbook on communication and collaboration.
The chosen activities are focused on improving an understanding of the need for the changes, the strategies to enhance communication and cooperation. Additionally, time is devoted to practicing the skills as it is critical to teach the staff how to utilize what they have learned. An essential aspect of this training session is discussing the activities and materials that were proposed. Finally, the group will be encouraged to participate in a conversation regarding the causes of high levels of the SIR in Barnes Jewish Hospital. The activities and materials will ensure that the medical personnel understands the importance of the adjustments, and learns how to communicate effectively.
Annotated Agenda and Outline for a Two-Hour Training Workshop
Day: 20th September
Barnes Jewish Hospital
St Louis, MI.
- 9 a.m. – Opening
- 9.15 a.m. – The importance of improving the skills for the benefit of the patients explained
- Additional materials: presentation, studies that support the argument of patient outcomes connection to communication within the hospital (Nguyen et al. (2018), and Al-Abri, and Al-Balushi (2014).
- 9.15 – 9.45 a.m. – Communication Workshop
- How to speak with compassion
- The importance of listening in the relationship with patients
- Group communication and strategies for improvement
Additional materials: a handbook on compassionate communication and effective collaboration.
- 9.45 – 10.20 a.m. – Practicing team communication
- Developing practical skills to convey information efficiently
- Questions and suggestions from the audience
- 10.30 – 11.00 – Ways to Improve Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR)
- A discussion of possible causes of the issue
Policy and Practice Guidelines
The presented alterations should affect the daily routines of the staff members. After the training session, the way each employee communicates within a unit or with other departments should be different. The focus will be on providing all the information about the patients that can be related to his or her health state. A similar approach should be taken to collaboration between different departments. Additionally, communication with the people who are admitted to the hospital should become more patient-oriented. Thus, employing better listening skills and speaking with compassion will be required. As was previously mentioned, to illustrate and clarify the nature and scope of the proposed changes and practice guidelines additional materials and activities should be utilized (presentation, journals, and a handbook).
The Importance of the Changes
These modifications are necessary as they affect the overall image of the Barnes Jewish Hospital. Additionally, they affect patient satisfaction, readmission rates, and SIR, which are the essential metrics that help identify the quality of services provided by an establishment. The alterations will be helpful, as better communication will lead to a better understanding of the concerns that a person has, which can help identify additional health problems.
This will result in a more patient-oriented approach, which will be beneficial for both the hospital and the people (Fix et al., 2018). Thus, Barnes Jewish will be able to enhance health outcomes for people who are treated here. Strengthened team communication will ensure that the information about a patient’s condition is correctly transmitted between different departments. It is a critical aspect of care, especially for the emergency department (Nguyen et al., 2018). Learning how to cooperate between teams will improve health outcomes for the patients, thus lowering readmission rates for the hospital. Finally, additional communication and research conducted by the staff members can help understand the underlying causes of SIR within Barnes Jewish.
The training session will require additional spending from Barnes Jewish, thus clearly identifying the strategy that can effectively solve the issue is critical. Gershengorn, Kocher, and Factor (2014) state that only twenty percent of changes are needed to affect the majority (eighty percent) of operations. Thus, for this intervention, the most critical objective is to target the communication skills that are likely to influence the three metrics.
Therefore, one strategy alteration in how the staff within Barnes Jewish Hospital communicates with each other and with the patients can significantly improve the benchmark scores of the hospital. To illustrate the importance of the enhanced quality, studies by Nguyen et al. (2018), Fix et al. (2018), and Al-Abri and Al-Balushi (2014) should be presented. This will ensure that the staff receives evidence-based arguments regarding the policy and patient outcomes.
The Importance of Group’s Buy-in
The group’s buy-in and support are essential as the members of staff will be cooperating and talking to patients in their day-to-day work. Thus, they will be the ones implementing the policy in their practice. Additionally, the group can help identify the issues with the plan to help improve it. Thus, medical staff support and work are vital aspects of this change proposal. It is vital to provide an opportunity to voice an opinion and share experiences that are relevant to the alterations to help empower the members of the group. Additionally, the training plan lays out the expected outcomes for the group clearly, as it explains the activities and learning objectives in detail. Therefore, the identified group should help implement the enhancements to the operations of Barnes Jewish Hospital.
References
Al-Abri, R., & Al-Balushi, A. (2014). Patient satisfaction survey as a tool towards quality improvement. Oman Medical Journal, 29(1), 3-7. Web.
Dannapfel, P., Poksinska, B., & Thomas, K. (2014). Dissemination strategy for Lean thinking in health care. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 27(5), 391 – 404.
Fix, G. M., VanDeusen Lukas, C., Bolton, R. E., Hill, J. N., Mueller, N., LaVela, S. L., & Bokhour, B. G. (2018). Patient-centered care is a way of doing things: How healthcare employees conceptualize patient-centered care. Health Expectations, 21(1), 300 – 307.
Gershengorn, H. B., Kocher, R., & Factor, P. (2014). Management strategies to effect change in intensive care units: Lessons from the world of business. Part I. Targeting quality improvement initiatives. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 11(2), 264 – 269. Web.
Hwang, P., Hwang, D., & Hong, P. (2014). Lean practices for quality results: A case illustration. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 27(8), 729 – 741.
Nguyen, J. T., Vakil, K., Adabag, S., Westanmo, A., Madlon-Kay, R., Ishani, A., … McFalls, E. O. (2018). Hospital readmission rates following AMI: Potential interventions to improve efficiency. Southern Medical Journal, 111(2), 93-97. Web.
Simons, P. A., Benders, J., Marneffe, W., Pijls-Johannesma, M., & Vandijck, D. (2015). Workshops as a useful tool to better understand care professionals’ views of a lean change program. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 28(1), 64 – 74. Web.